Rodents have been a source of disease, competed for food and in general have been considered a pest to mankind since the beginning of recorded time.
Many methods of eliminating these creature have been put forward but the most effective method of large scale reduction of rodent populations remains the use of poisoned materials that they either consume as a food source, or walking through them, pick up on their feet and then consume as they groom themselves.
The danger to non-target species, humans, domestic animals, pets, and food sources is based upon the fact that most poisoned baits contain food sources that are attractive not only to the creature which are intended to be destroyed, but also to those which are of value or in fact, to humans themselves.
These use of poisoned tracking powders, while highly effective, represent the same type of inherent danger in that they can spread or be touched by animals and humans without their knowledge.
Therefore, a system must be provided that will inhibit the contact of these non-target species from the poisons used for rodent eradication while providing a device that will allow ease of access to the target vector.
In the past patents have been granted to several such devices as indicated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,132,026 1/1979 Dodds . . . 43/131; 4,161,079 7/1979 Hill . . . 43/131; 4,281,471 8/1981 Jenkins et al . . . 43/131; 4,349,981 9/1982 Sherman . . . 43/131; 4,031,653 6/1977 Jordan . . . 43/131; 4,161,079 7/1979 Hill . . . 43/131; 4,349,982 9/1982 Sherman . . . 43/131; 4,400,904 8/1983 Baker . . . 43/131; 4,541,198 9/1985 Sherman . . . 43/131; Foreign Pat. Nos. 6617388 5/1968 Netherlands . . . 43/131; 2111022 9/1972 Federal Republic of Germany . . . 43/131.
These devices, while providing some protection to the poisoned baits, are defective in many respects because they are bulky to carry and store, allow spillage of poisoned baits, require large areas to position themselves in, present a potential hazard in many cases to children, pets and domestic animals and, are very costly to construct.
In general, while advancing the state of the art, in many cases the inventions cited previously cannot be effectively used and will not fully protect the environment from contamination of the poisoned materials.
An object of the present art is to improve on these devices, specifically on the SHERMAN U.S. Pat. No. 4,349,981 by providing a version that can be easily stored, provides tamper-resistant entrance and egress for the target species and, will inhibit contact of the poisoned materials by children, pets, etc.
A further object of the invention is to provide and environment that a rodent such as a house mouse, will feel inviting and comfortable in entering and feeding in.
A further object of the invention is to provide a device that can be assembled by the user as needed and loaded with either rodenticide baits or be used with poisoned tracking powders while isolating these toxins from unauthorized tampering.
A further object of the invention is to provide "line of sight" enterance and egress to the target rodent while establishing a system of baffles at the entrance tunnels that will not allow the contact of prying fingers to the poisoned baits or powders.
Still another object of the invention is to allow the bait station to be secured to a floor or wall surface in order to prevent movement of the station and possible spillage of its contents.
Another object of the instant invention is to provide a secure method of assembling the bait station into a finished form with the use of a positive latching system.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a tray running the length of the bait station that will hold tracking powders in place.
Yet another object of the instant invention to to provide an entrance tunnel, baffled in such a manner, that it will require a "setback" in the construction of the tunnel structure both on the exterior and interior portions in order to provide the minimum amount of space needed for the rodent to traverse to bait station and thereby further inhibit prying fingers and other object that might be forced into contact with the poison.
Still another object of the invention is to provide opposing baffles on the tunnel structures that will allow a rodents fluid body to easily traverse the tunnel structure but will deflect any attempt by objects such as fingers from reaching the contents of the baiter.
A further object of the invention is to provide a center mounting stake that can be used to hold a bait block far enough away from the tunnel structures that the bait will not be reached or moved if the baiter is tipped over.
And finally, the invention provides for separate structures that can be secured together without the use of any external means such as ties, nuts or bolts but, rather will clip together to form an integrated structure that is tamper-resistant, re-usable and totally secure.
With the introduction of more powerful toxins for the control of rodent populations and, with the need for large scale use of these toxins to defeat rodent populations that have become resistant to safer rodenticides, it has become necessary to provide a low cost, compact device that will safely contain these baits and powders.
This invention meets these criterias and other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent when considered with the following description and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.